James Duffy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
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Just finished basic construction on one of Frank Burke's Daedalus RC rocket glider kits, and thought I'd document the finishing process. I didn't snap photos through the build for a couple of reasons. First, Frank's build videos are very comprehensive, so covering the process again would have been redundant. Second, the basic build was so simple, pain-free, and quick that it was over before I thought about taking any photos. Here's a link to the kit on Frank's website:
https://dynasoarrocketry.com/?page_id=623
The "speed" point cannot be overstated: from opening to box to having a complete airframe ready for paint, finishing, and radio installation took less than an hour. This is a really quick build! Just make sure that you use a couple of fresh, sharp #11 blades for opening up the pre-marked slots on the airframe tube, as well as have some foam-safe CA on hand. Standard CA will melt the foam wing and tail components.
What Frank has not covered in his video series is the finishing process, so a few thoughts on that process might be valuable. Your finishing process could be as simple or as complex as you like. At a minimum, a builder of one of these kits will want to put some sort of large, easily seen marking on the bottom of the glider to help the pilot maintain orientation during flight. That might be something as simple as a wide tape stripe, or perhaps some wide self-adhesive Monokote trim film.
More in a bit,
James
https://dynasoarrocketry.com/?page_id=623
The "speed" point cannot be overstated: from opening to box to having a complete airframe ready for paint, finishing, and radio installation took less than an hour. This is a really quick build! Just make sure that you use a couple of fresh, sharp #11 blades for opening up the pre-marked slots on the airframe tube, as well as have some foam-safe CA on hand. Standard CA will melt the foam wing and tail components.
What Frank has not covered in his video series is the finishing process, so a few thoughts on that process might be valuable. Your finishing process could be as simple or as complex as you like. At a minimum, a builder of one of these kits will want to put some sort of large, easily seen marking on the bottom of the glider to help the pilot maintain orientation during flight. That might be something as simple as a wide tape stripe, or perhaps some wide self-adhesive Monokote trim film.
More in a bit,
James